Reeling
by e-wilson22
Summary: One needed someone to lose themselves in. The other needed someone to find themselves in. Story begins after Bryce plants the sycamore.
1. Chapter 1

_Let me know what you think! Reviews are greatly appreciated._

**••¤( BRYCE ****)¤••**

Thinking about that day in junior high when I nearly kissed Juliana Baker in front of almost half the school still makes me shudder. You'd think I'd be able to laugh it off by now_-oh those crazy hormones, kids always do things without considering the consequences, you know how it is. _You'd think.

The third or fourth day after the incident, though, held better memories. Feeling Juli's small hand under mine on the cold soil surrounding the base of that baby sycamore was a feeling I knew I'd never forget. I remember us quietly sitting and looking at the tree, and I remember my heart racing as her skin remained pressed against mine on that mound of fresh dirt, and I remember the way the breeze laced its way through my hair.

Minutes later, we sat on the swing on her front porch, and we talked in a manner we'd never talked in before. It was then that I realized that Juli had a way of making me feel like we were the only two living things on the planet, and all that mattered was the words we said to each other. I was glad to see she was okay with talking about the old tree so I felt comfortable asking her about it.

"What was it like getting interviewed by the newspaper?" I awkwardly laughed, "Did you feel like a movie star?"

She smirked to herself in a way that could only be described as adorable and stared down at her lap. She sighed, "I... I really thought I could stop them."

My body got cold really quickly. "I'm sorry I didn't go up there with you, Juli."

Her green eyes met my gaze, "It's... It wouldn't have changed anything anyway."

"Maybe... I don't know, maybe it could have? I was scared," I spoke, "Shoot, I'm scared of everything." She only shrugged in response, then a quick grin grew on her face.

"I wouldn't say everything." I immediately knew she was referencing the Basket Boys lunch episode and I could feel the blood rush to my cheeks.

"I'm trying not to be so scared, I guess," I mumbled as I scratched the back of my neck, "You seem like you'd be a good teacher at that... fearless." Juli's eyelashes fluttered as she smiled at me and it was at that moment that I realized I wanted to be the reason behind that smile every second of every day.

"You think I'm fearless?"

"I know you are. Everybody does." She bit her bottom lip and gazed out at the street. I followed her gaze and stared at my house and wondered about all the thoughts that would run through her mind every time she looked at it.

We sat on that porch for another hour, talking about names for the new sycamore. I was really pushing for "Tree" but she wasn't quite keen on that one. I don't think we settled on a name and our conversation was abruptly ended by Mom, who stepped out of the house and waved me in.

Before we knew it, the school year was over and it was June and Juli and I spent most of our time together that summer. We liked biking out to the outskirts of town. Arriving at the hidden destinations we'd discovered, lungs out of breath and muscles aching, we'd set our bikes down and explore for hours.

One day, we were standing on an arch bridge, overlooking the greens and blues of what seemed like an endless creek, and Juli was pushing her long, dark tresses out of her face, saying something about how amazing it was that the sun was just a ball in the sky. She chuckled softly and I looked over at her and she leaned towards the edge, arms resting on the wooden barrier, chest rising and falling from the hour bike ride we just had. Before I knew it, our faces were inches away and my stomach had gone completely numb, knowing that in just a few more seconds, I'd be able to say I was the lucky sucker that got to kiss Juliana Baker. I was staring at her. Reeling.

Suddenly, I felt a sharp sting on my ankle and all my attention was diverted to the massive wasp that was sitting right on my shoe. I shouted in anguish and saw Juli bend down in a flash, intrepidly waving the wasp away. Leave it to her to so passively dismiss one of the gnarliest insects I've ever seen. I watched the thick bug fly away and, like the manly man I was, bounced around on my good foot, wincing and repeating 'ow!' over and over again.

Once I was finally hunched over the railing, I felt Juli's hand rubbing my back.

"It's not going to hurt for long, okay, Bryce?... It looks like she only got you once, that's lucky... We're gonna have to take the stinger out, that is if it's even in there, and get ice on it right away, okay?... There was a general store we passed, I'm sure we can get some for you... Bryce?"

"Okay, okay," my words were rushed as I tightened my fists, waiting for the searing, burning pain to end.

"That's weird that he bit you- most bugs only bite when they feel threatened. Did you say anything bad about him?" She laughed at herself. Despite the anguish, I couldn't help but chuckle at her dorky little joke. "It's going to be okay. You're not allergic are you?"

"Only to kiwi," I replied. I was surprised she didn't know that- doesn't she know everything there is in this universe to know?

"Based on my expertise, I don't think you have to worry about any kiwi in that sting," she chuckled again.

"Laughing at my pain, huh?"

"No," Juli laughed a little harder. I tried to slowly put my foot down on the ground, but quickly bent it back up once my ankle filled with hot pain."You should sit down." Before I could react, Juli took my arm and swung it around her shoulders, slowly leading me off the bridge and back to the field we set our bikes down on. Being so close to her helped relieve the ache of the sting, but it also sent butterflies to my stomach, which I wasn't a big fan of.

She slowly sat me down, bad leg stretched out, good leg bent up, then inspected the sting. "Does it hurt?"

"Oh, no," I sarcastically answered, "Feels kind of good, actually. Like a little massage." Juli snickered and playfully hit my knee, then went back to studying my ankle.

"Looks like there's no stinger in there," she mumbled, "I'll be right back." Before I could say anything, Juli stood and hopped up on her bike. I laid back, and I couldn't stop thinking about Juli's lips. Her eyes. Her hair. Her smile. I have a feeling that if I was listening carefully enough right before that almost kiss, I would've heard all the bees, wasps, and hornets in the world saying-_Bryce is about to get something nice in his life! We better step in and make sure that doesn't happen._

About ten minutes later, she came back as abruptly as she left. The small bag of ice she pressed against my ankle directed me to let out a sigh of happiness. I laid back on the grass, feeling the cool relief.

"We owe Sal thirty cents," she said, holding the ice with one hand and reaching into her pocket with the other.

"Sal?"

"The man at the general store. Really trusting. I like that in a person." I couldn't help but laugh. I sat up again to watch her looking down at the bag of ice on my ankle and gently patting the bag on my sting. She glanced over at me to catch me staring. I spinelessly looked away.

"Let me have that sweater?" Juli asked. I unquestionably pulled off my cardigan and handed to her. She bunched up the navy blue fabric and lifted my leg, then rested it back on the sweater. "Good to keep it elevated." Is there something this girl doesn't know?

"You planning to become a doctor or something?" She looked up and her forest green eyes mesmerised me.

"Maybe," she let out a shy chuckle. "Is it feeling better?"

"Much," I sighed, "Thank you." Talk about a late apology.

"Good." Juli had a small smile on her face and I couldn't help but mirror it.

"You're a really caring person, Juli." Her smile grew bigger.

"It's just a little first aid." That's when I realized that the great, invincible Juli couldn't even give herself a little credit. I made a promise to myself to fix that.

As we rode back to our neighbourhood, right ankle pinching with pain, I couldn't stop thinking about how we almost kissed.

**••¤( JULIANA ****)¤••**

I couldn't stop thinking about how we almost kissed. Not at the Basket Boy lunch, which by now I thought of as a nice memory, even though when it happened I felt strange and uncomfortable and like I wanted to curl up under a table. The almost kiss I couldn't stop thinking about was the one on the bridge. I was the closest I'd ever been to Bryce Loski. I could smell the fabric softener on his clothes and the shampoo that I could have sworn was candy-scented.

On that slow bike-ride home, I wondered if I'd ever get that close to him again. If I'd ever get to kiss him.

When we got to our street, stopping right in between our houses in the middle of the street like we always did, Bryce shambled off the bike, his face red and his mouth pulled in a pained smile.

"I'll see you later, Juli. Thank you for the first aid." I smiled at him and watched him walk his bike to his garage, drop it on the pavement, and limp into the house. I had no idea that that was the last time we would bike together.

The next day, I knocked on Bryce's front door to see if he wanted to ride down to the fair I heard was in town, and was greeted by his tired face. His blonde hair was a mess and he was in his plaid pyjamas. It was strange yet nice to see him in such a private state.

"You don't look so hot," I mumbled. He sighed and nodded, closing the gap between the door and the frame, embarrassingly hiding behind the door. The longer I looked at his reddened eyes, the more it seemed like he had just been crying.

He looked down quickly, as if he could read my thoughts. "Yeah, I must've caught- caught a cold or something."

"Is your sting okay?"

"Oh, yeah, yeah, it's not the sting. It's definitely something else."

"I came to see if you wanted to bike down to the fair, but you don't seem like you're in good shape for that." The side of his mouth went up in a smirk.

"Yeah..." Bryce mumbled, "Actually I think I want to-" He stopped talking as if he'd been interrupted. I involuntarily stepped closer and he cleared his throat. "No, yeah, I'm gonna have to pass. Tomorrow, we can go?"

"Okay. Tomorrow," I nodded, unconvinced. "Feel better." He thanked me and smiled, then closed the door.

I spent the next hour biking up to where we went the day before. I was so bothered by what happened with Bryce. Yesterday he tells me I'm caring and almost kisses me, and today he practically pushes me off his front step and won't tell me what's wrong, even though he knows I'm here for him!

I told myself to stop being upset over it. I had to remember that Bryce wasn't the most straightforward of people.

As promised, I went to the general store and found the kind vendor who gave me free ice. Sal. When I walked in, he didn't look the least bit surprised. I put the thirty cents on the plastic counter separating us.

"Thanks again," I softly mumbled, and turned to leave, in no mood to talk to anyone.

"Your name is Juli, right?" he grumbled. I turned to see his greying moustache stretch out with the smile that grew on his face.

"Yes."

"Is your friend okay?"

"Yeah, he's okay," I looked down, wishing I was better at hiding my emotions.

"Is everything alright, darling?" I stepped forward, figuring if I was to put these feelings everywhere, what better place than a corner store an hour away from home?

"That friend... he just kind of brushed me off today. Without so much as an explanation. I know something's wrong with him, but he just won't tell me."

Sal sighed and leaned on the counter. "Nothing makes you feel more crummy that being dismissed like that." I nodded and put my hands in my pockets. "Please, have a popsicle on the house."

"Oh, you don't have to do that."

"I insist! Besides, that freezer's rickety anyway. Better for that ice cream to be eaten then to just melt in there."

"Thank you," I went over to the freezer and picked out a fudge popsicle.

"Say, Juli," Sal pronounced, "I'm getting old and my son just left for a cruise with his aunt and uncle, so I don't have any extra help around here. What do you say about working here for the rest of the summer?" I was apprehensive but something I always thought of myself as was an opportunity-seizer.

"Really?"

"Yes, besides, I already know you're trustworthy, which is all I need in an employee! You won't have to do much. Just stock and maybe man the register here and there. My son will be back by September."

"That sounds great," I chirped. I was worrying about what my parents would say but I'd cross that bridge when I got to it.

"Swell! And here I was thinking I'd have to do interviews and consider candidates and all that mumbo jumbo. Can you start tomorrow? Say 9 am? I've got about ten boxes of soap to put away and my back just won't let me do the job."

"Definitely, sir!" Sal put his thin fingers beneath the overalls with a satisfied grin.

"Please, call me Sal. Does $1.25 an hour work for you?" I nodded happily, surprised at how quickly my day had turned around.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow, Sal."

The next day, I was at the store, stocking soap and mopping floors, after, of course, spending about an hour the previous night convincing my parents to let their 14-year-old daughter out into the work force.

Weeks had passed and I still hadn't spent any time with Bryce. After about five attempts of getting him out of the house, I decided he'd come out when he's good and ready, and for now, I'd be spending time with my family and biking around and working at the store.

It still hurt me, though. That almost kiss on the bridge happened then he just stopped making any effort with me. I wish I could tell him that we could be just friends. As much as I wanted to kiss him, he didn't have to. But I was still left wondering why he tried to kiss me at the Basket Boys lunch

I hated how much time I spent wondering why Bryce was ignoring me.

Before I knew it, it was mid-August. As I stood at the counter, fanning myself from the thick humidity that took over the store, I heard the windchime on the door shake and saw a boy who looked a little older than me walk towards the counter.

His blue eyes studied me. "Who are you?"

"Pardon me?" I snapped. _Customer service, Juli. If they're rude, don't be rude back. You don't want to get in trouble for this again._ I cleared my throat, "My name is Juli, can I help you?

His floppy brown hair fell in front of his eyes, and he blew it out of his face. "Yeah, where's the owner?"

"Sal's in the back, I can get him for you."

"It's fine." He stormed towards the back of the store. Before I could think about tackling him, I heard him shout, "Dad!" And I realized that that was Evan, Sal's beloved son I always heard about. Didn't seem as great as I thought.

Soon enough, they came out together. Sal had a grin plastered on his face, Evan a scowl.

Sal looked over at his son, "I've talked about you to Juli, but I never got to talk about Juli to you! Meet Sal's General Store newest employee. Sorry, kids, I must have gotten my days mixed up, I thought you were coming back tomorrow." I tried to fake a smile, for Sal's sake.

"Do you need me here or not, Dad?"

Sal looked at me, kind of embarrassed, "You can help us get ahead of schedule and bring all the boxes from receiving to the front?" Evan quickly nods with a tired expression and bolts away. Sal only gives me a tight grin and followed his son.

Minutes later, Evan came back in and rounded the counter, standing across from me as I organized the cash register.

"Hey, Juli, right?" I looked up to see his blue eyes staring my way. "I'm sorry for when I came in, I was being..."

"A spaz?"

He chuckled, "My mouth runs faster than my brain sometimes."

"I know the feeling," I reply.

"Anyways, I just wanted to let you know I'm not that awful all the time. Just sometimes." I tried to remember everything Sal told me about his son, but all I could remember was that he was two years my senior, a sophomore in high school, and that he wanted to be a mechanic. His lanky figure towered over me and he rested his elbows on the counter and it was the first time I was feeling butterflies in my stomach that weren't for Bryce. Which I felt happy and sad about at the same time.


	2. Chapter 2

••¤( BRYCE )¤••

I felt awful. Watching how dejected Juli looked after I repeatedly gave haphazard excuses for not being able to spend time with her made me feel like a total weenie.

She eventually stopped coming around and it made me feel even worse than rejecting her invitations because it meant she thought I genuinely didn't want to spend any time with her.

I _did. _And I wanted to tell her why I didn't want to go anywhere. Really badly. But I was so bad at it. I was so bad at talking about things like that. And there was something about Juli that made me want to tell her everything. Which I couldn't deal with. Like I said, I was bad at it anyway and I knew I would end up a blubbering mess. I was doing her a favour by distancing myself.

No one in my family except Granddad asked me why I didn't go anywhere anymore, but then again, I didn't expect them to. Lynetta was always gone with her friends and Mom and Dad were too busy fighting, which was the reason I stayed in. I knew they weren't happy. And I knew it was a matter of time before one of them would leave.

Dad kept sleeping on the couch and Mom kept visiting her sister for days on end and I just knew that if I spent _any _time with Juli, I'd open up and I'd be an absolute mess in front of her and I just couldn't do it. Not talking about it made it seem less real to me. Which is why when Granddad asked me about how I was or why I looked so tired, I'd change the subject as quickly as possible.

I kept looking out the window to Juli's house and seeing the sycamore. What troubled me, though, was that I rarely ever saw her bike resting under it. She was barely home.

Where _was _she?

I spent a great deal of that summer in my room. I wanted to get away from all the turmoil in the house, but the thought of Juli seeing me this way scared me so much that I reserved all my "outside time" to the late, late hours of the night. Once my alarm clock would hit about two a.m., I'd pull a sweater over my pajamas and sneak down the stairs into the cool summer night.

One night in particular, though, was one I'd never forget.

It had rained that day, so when I stepped out of the house under the starry sky, a thick humidity hit me. I took off my sweater, leaving it on the front porch, and set out to my regular route -up the block, past a little patch of woods, to a relatively empty area with a few subdivisions. I reached my turnaround point, a house with a tire swing, and made my way back to the house I'd grown to detest.

As I got on my street, I heard a buzzing behind me. As it got closer, I realized it was the unmistakable sound of bike tires on pavement. A figure passed me and the long brown hair and purple bike told me it was Juli and for some unknown, stupid reason, I called out her name.

Her head snapped back towards my direction and the bike squealed to a halt. I blinked a bunch of times to try to clear up my eyes and looked at her unreadable expression.

"Bryce," her voice was soft. The way her eyebrows were furrowed made her look angry, but the frown on her lips proclaimed sadness. I was thankful she had stopped in a space between streetlights, so it wasn't bright enough for her to be up, close, and personal with the result of what a crummy summer did to Bryce Loski.

I waited for her to speak. She didn't. So I did.

"What are you doing out so late?" my voice cracked.

Juli tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and swung her leg off the bike, standing with it leaning against her torso. "Couldn't sleep. You?"

"Couldn't sleep," I quickly answer.

"Are... are you okay, Bryce?" She should be furious with me now. I remember when the egg incident happened, she gave me the cold shoulder for weeks, and was quite good at it, too. She could hold onto a grudge. Easily. For a long time.

But now, even though she did seem to have a bit of anger inside her, there was more care in her voice. Maybe it was because we grew closer since the eggs, maybe it's because she genuinely cared that something was wrong. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

"Oh, yeah, yeah. Just really not feeling well lately. A stomach bug, maybe."

"A two-month stomach bug?" she quickly replied. I chewed on my lower lip.

"What have you been up to?"

"I, um- I got a job."

"A job?"

"Yeah, for the summer."

"Where?"

"Sal's General Store. Remember, where I got the ice?" I could tell she wanted to sound tough but the change of tone in her voice gave her away. I nodded, reminded of the last day I was blind to the conflict my parents had clearly had for years. A few seconds passed. "What'd I do wrong?" There was a slight tremble in her voice and I wanted to kick myself a hundred times for being the reason behind Julianna Baker's sorrow.

"Nothing, nothing. It's not you, Juli." I looked down and continued to bite on my lip.

"Then what?"

I looked up at her glistening eyes and her plump cheeks and her shiny hair and I felt like the last person who ever deserved to be with Juli was me. "Nothing."

"Fine," she snapped. She quickly mounted her bike and sighed deeply. I didn't want her to go. But, why would she want to stay with the way I was acting? "Just know that I don't appreciate being treated like this, Bryce. It's unfair. And rude."

And with that, she was gone. As quickly as she came.

I should have told her.

Once I got home, grabbing my bunched up sweater off the porch, I was startled by a noise in the front room. It was Granddad clearing his throat, sitting at his usual chair in front of the window.

"Bryce? What are you doing out so late?" I stepped forward and leaned on the doorframe, happy that he, too, was a fan of staying in the dark.

"Couldn't sleep. Figured I should walk."

"Ah, I see. I couldn't sleep either. This house hasn't been calm in a while, eh?" I swallowed the lump in my throat. "Say, why's it that I never see you spending time with Julianna Baker anymore?" _Why is it that the world just loved crumbling down on me at once? _

"I don't know," I lied. He looked over at me from his chair, eyebrows raised, skin crinkling at his forehead.

"My advice to you, son, is to not bottle up what you feel. Distancing yourself from everything and everyone only puts you in a bad place. I know you're not a coward, Bryce."

"Thank you, sir," I answered, not really digesting his words until I said good night and went up the stairs. Once I opened the door to my bedroom, I knew he was right. I needed to tell Juli everything.

I didn't know why I thought ignoring the problem was the answer. It sure made things a hell of a lot easier, but it wasn't the solution.

I turned on my lamplight and stared at Juli's house from my window and saw her bike resting under the sycamore. Quickly, I ripped a paper out of a school notebook and found a pen and started scribbling.

_Dear Julianna,_

_I'm so sorry for ignoring you this summer.__  
_

_It's almost three in the morning on August 18th and I just saw you outside. You looked very pretty. I wanted to tell you everything.__ I'm sorry. I guess this is my way of telling you what's been happening. That is, if you still care about me in any way._

_I'm sure that by the end of this year, my parents will be divorced. I know that if I was a better son and if I made them prouder, this wouldn't be happening.__  
_

_Even though I know you deserve better too, I still want to spend time with you and I hope you still want to spend time with me. And I hope starting school, this new chapter in our lives, will bring us as close as we were at the beginning of this summer. Did you know that sting left a scar on my ankle? It did. Every time I notice it, I think about you. That is, if I'm not already thinking about you at that moment._

_Juli, I know I'm only 14 and they call us "kids" and it may seem dumb, but I'm in love with you._

_- Bryce_

I folded up the paper and threw it somewhere on the floor and lay in bed. All the shouting that I heard in the past few weeks was circling around in my head and I couldn't shut it off. And as much as I hate to admit it, I cried myself to sleep that night.

••¤( JULIANA )¤••

That night took me for a tailspin. I finally saw Bryce after weeks and all he had to tell me was 'Nothing.'_ Oh, nothing's wrong, Juli, I've just been avoiding you and staying locked in my house and wandering the streets past midnight- just because. Nothing!_

I hated that I told him I got a job. Why should I tell him what's been happening in my life when all I know about him is that he's a terrible liar? A stomach bug. _Please._

Once I got home, happy I didn't wake anyone up in the house with my spontaneous 2:30 am bike ride, I went into my room and looked at the Loski's house across the street. I saw a light on in Bryce's room and wondering what had gotten into him.

What happened?

Even though I thought I'd regret it, I was glad I asked him what I did wrong. Because the way he quickly shook me off and looked away guaranteed that it wasn't me who caused this spell.

I just wish he could tell me who or what did. I thought we were close enough by now.

_Oh, stop it, Juli._ _It's almost three in the morning and you work tomorrow._

The next day, the store was empty for most of the morning. As I was organizing the candy bars, Evan came up beside me, tossing a novelty key-chain from the store up and down.

"Hey, you go to Rockfield?" he mumbled. It was strange that Sal had both Evan and I working, especially on such a dead morning. I'm sure Sal didn't need me anymore, but he did say my "contract" was until September and I think he was too kind-hearted to tell me, _My son's back sooner than I thought so... thanks but no thanks. Turn in your smock._

"Me?" I replied, looking up.

"No, not you. All these customers." I rolled my eyes and shared a laugh with him.

"In September, I'll be a freshman."

"No way you're a freshman! You act way older." The way Evan spoke, so confident and self-assured, made me admire him that much more. Besides, he looked so cute doing it.

"I wish I could say it's because I have two older brothers, but I think they stopped brain development at 12." He laughed at my joke and it made my heart flutter. "And yourself?" I already knew he'd be going into junior year next month, thanks to his father always boasting about how proud he was of his Evan.

"I'm starting the eleventh grade. If you need anyone to show you the ropes, like which cafeteria foods to avoid, I'm your guy."

Evan referring to himself as my guy only made my heart pound faster. I nodded with a laugh and tucked a shiny, golden wrapper in with its look-a-likes.

"Did- did you get your schedule yet?" he asked. I met his eyes and watched him rake back his floppy hair and couldn't help but wonder: did he... _like _me?

"P.E. first period. Arithmetic second. And... I don't remember the rest."

"Not bad," his silhouette disappears behind me, "If you sleep in, it's okay. From what I've heard, Mrs. Brooke doesn't really care if you're late. But to be safe, it helps to bring her M&Ms. She loves them."

"Mrs. Brooke?"

"Girls' gym teacher. Ironic, huh?" I laughed and stood up, hands on my hips, admiring the new look of the candy bar shelf. I felt Evan walk up behind me.

"Looks good," his deep voice made my stomach turn, "Seems a little bias though."

"Bias?"

"If I ever see you with a candy bar, it's a Cow-A-Mel."

_How long as he been observing me? _"And?"

"First thing a customer notices when they look down at the candy bars is a stack of Cow-A-Mel. Sneaky. Bias. Advertising." I chuckle and slightly turn my body his way, his towering mine.

"What am I doing here, then? I should be working for Cow-A-Mel's ad department."

"No, don't leave," Evan half-whines, placing a hand on the small of my back, sending a spark through my body, "If you weren't here, _I'd _have to be the poor sucker organizing candy bars."

Days passed and I found myself loving work more than I expected. And it was all because of Evan. All of a sudden, the summer had passed, and it was my last shift. I was ringing through Mrs. Bell, a regular, and I knew I'd miss the job. The responsibility was nice and Sal was a great boss. Plus, the thought of seeing Evan every morning at work made my days much better. I knew I'd see him at school but... would we even talk?

"Your last day as a Sal's employee, huh, kiddo?" Sal came around to the register and patted me on the back.

"This summer zoomed by," I answered.

"That it did. Thanks for all your help."

"It was my pleasure." Sal reminded me a lot of Chet. Kind, caring, a little bit of hurt behind his eyes. I was sure it was because of Evan's mother. I didn't know what had happened with her, but I did know that she was out of the picture.

I missed Chet, but I didn't want to go near that house. Not until Bryce... _Don't think about Bryce._

"I'll make sure to come down. Employee discounts still count, right?" I teased. Sal chuckled and pulled me into a side hug.

Just then, Evan came around and smiled at us from the other side of the counter.

"Oh, Juli, before I forget," Evan began, "Do you need a ride to school?" My heart thumped. I guess that answered my question as to if Evan and I would even talk outside the store.

"If you- if you think you'd-"

"Yeah, I'm gonna give you a ride to school," he beamed. Thank goodness he interrupted me since I had no idea where I was going with my sentence. I loved how straightforward Evan was. He was never afraid to speak his mind.

"Now I'm even more nervous about you taking the car," Sal grumbled. The three of us shared a laugh.

The summer was over and it was the day before the start of freshman year at Rockfield High and I was a ball of nerves. I sat in the front room with a book in my lap I knew I'd be too anxious to actually read.

"What's on your mind?" my Dad's voice startled me.

I exhaled. "I'm going to be in high school. Isn't that crazy?"

"Don't remind me," he chuckled, leaning over to plant a kiss on my head, "I swear, yesterday, you were being potty-trained." He sat in his usual chair, lacing his fingers together. I quietly sighed and looked out the window again. At the tree. At Bryce's house. Even though Evan was a sweet distraction, nothing topped how deeply I cared for Bryce. But once I started thinking about him, I'd also think about how he ditched me. One day he's almost kissing me, the next he can't stand the sight of me.

"Oh, I'm getting a ride to school tomorrow. You know Sal's son?"

"Evan, right?"

"Yeah. We go to the same school now and he offered me transportation. At least for tomorrow. Morning." My dad raised his eyebrows.

"Is this kid responsible?"

"Dad," I chuckled. Before he could reply, Matt and Mark charged into the room and picked me up off the chair, my hardcover book dropping to the floor with a thud.

"Freshie! Freshie!" they chanted. I could barely catch my breath at how hard I was laughing as they paraded me around on their shoulders. Mom came around and leaned against the door rame, one hand on her hip, a smile on her face.

"Guys!" I chortled.

"Our youngest Baker is going to be a high schooler tomorrow!" Matt shouted.

"Hip hip hooray for government-sanctioned education!" Mark chimed. Matt shoved him and I went toppling to the ground. Thankfully, it wasn't so hard, and I was still laughing, sprawled out on the carpet.

"I'm just going to high-school! College is a bigger deal," I shouted over their laughter.

"That's not for another two weeks! Live in the now, Juli!" Matt replied. I sat up and watched Mom shake her head and walk away, the same smile plastered on her face. Dad had more of a pensive expression on his face, but I could still see happiness.

Soon enough we had dinner, then dessert, then it was time to go to bed. As I lay there, the moon's glow washing my room in a greyish hue, I thought about everything going in my life. Matt and Mark were starting college, but it wouldn't be a big change since they decided to live at home while attending. Mom had started a book club with a few other ladies on the block. Dad had been enjoying his time at the plant, especially since he'd been given a promotion. And I was happy I could contribute a little bit to the rent. Mom and Dad didn't let me give my whole paychecks, no matter how much I insisted, but they finally compromised and they let me give a fraction of my money. I wanted to help out. The chickens were well taken care of, my egg business was still bustling, and I had quite a lot of money saved up for... whatever I'd decide to spend it on.

Evan was picking me up around 7:45 and knowing Bryce's fears of being late, he'd be long gone by then. He wouldn't see Evan picking me up. If he did, I knew it'd hurt him. And I hated that I still cared. Just like I expected, my last thought of the summer of '59 was about Bryce Loski.


	3. Chapter 3

••¤( BRYCE )¤••

Walking to the bus-stop the first day of freshman year was, to put it lightly, nerve-wracking. Sure, I was worried about starting at a new school and all that jazz, but the letter I wrote to Juli sitting in my bookbag was the main source of my anxiety.

I _had _to give it to her. As the minutes passed and I got closer and closer to inevitably seeing her at school, the idea of handing it to her sent my stomach turning. But I was tired of shutting her out and I didn't want to lose her. I had to tell her the truth. Through a piece of paper. Brave was practically my middle name.

I decided to walk that morning so I left early, before anyone else was up in the house. By anyone, I mean Granddad or Mom. Lynetta was at her friend's and that's all I knew about her at the moment. As for Dad, I had no idea where he was. A week ago, I woke up and he was gone and no one would tell me where he was. Or if he was coming back. Not that I asked.

I shook my head as if I could shake the thoughts out of my head.

Once I made it to Rockwood, walking into the busy, crowded lobby, I took the folded up schedule I got in the mail last week and stared at it. A bell rang and I found myself running to the first teacher I saw, asking where S134 was. I followed her instructions and ran to the second story, plopping in the first seat I saw, panting as the second bell rang.

"Bryce!" I turned my head towards the direction of the call and saw Garrett, sitting in the seat placed diagonally behind me. He was smiling at me and albeit confused, I smiled back. I hadn't seen him since our quarrel after the Basket Boys lunch -we spent what was rest of that school year dealing with our emotions the way boys always do: pretending like it never happened and acting as if we didn't even know the other's name. Besides, I was too busy spending all my time with Juli.

"How- how was your summer?" he asked. I shrugged, noticing he had grown some facial hair beneath his chin. And there I was, 15 in a few months and I barely had a shadow.

I shrugged, "Good. Yours?"

"Went to Arizona to see my grandpa and grandma, it was a drag." He was speaking to me like we had never had a falling out at all. I wasn't sure how I felt about it. But I considered that maybe he changed since the last time we talked. Maybe he wasn't so judgmental and narrow-minded anymore.

A lot can change in a summer. Believe me, I know.

"Oh, that sounds lame."

"It was. Do y'know how many dust storms they have over there?" I chuckled. "No kidding! Dust storms and cacti, that's all they have."

"Just that, huh?"

"Welcome to your first day of highschool!" I looked over to the front of the geography class to see an elderly woman with round glasses standing with her hands clasped. "I hope you're not too nervous. I remember I was, but you'll get that hang out of it!" A sense of first-day awkwardness filled the classroom as she spoke to us about how she went to this very school, ate at this very cafeteria, sat at these very desks.

"So! First on the agenda is locker assignments." She gave us each a slip and we stumbled out into the hallway, finding our glorified cubbies, then went back to our desks, listening to her rules, then were handed out textbooks. Once we reached the end of the period, Garrett came to my desk as I tried to shove the textbooks into my book-bag.

"Hey, you wanna sit together at lunch? Scope out the highschool chicks?" He had a sly grin on his face and I raised my eyebrows, reluctantly agreeing. We agreed to meet by our lockers and I went to my next class. Wood work.

I walked into the class and saw Paul from last year. I liked that we were both what our old gym teacher called "the silent types." We didn't have to worry about engaging in any small-talk. Just gave each other kind nods and listened to the teacher's anecdotes. I invited him to sit with Garrett and I for lunch, which he indifferently agreed to. Afterwards, I had Science. The seating plan made sure to put me in a place far away from the three guys I knew from middle school. However, I _was _ beside Dana Tressler, who I remembered was good friends with Juli.

I peeked into my bag to make sure the letter was still there.

"Hey, Bryce! You got taller," she chirped once the teacher instructed me to sit at the lab bench she was sitting at. No facial hair, but I _did _grow. That was promising.

"Hi," I awkwardly replied. The memory of Dana catching me staring at Juli rushed into my head without warning, and it made my spine prickle with discomfort.

"How was your summer?"

"Good," I settled on the stool.

"Mine was awesome! My parents put a pool in, I think I'm part mermaid now!" She laughed and I tried to laugh with her. "My brother told me that Mr. Miller seems strict," she motioned to the tall, skinny teacher brushing chalk off his pants, "But he's actually really easy. I've got the 411 on the evil teachers that crawl through Rockwood." I nodded to her, noticing the sunburn peeling on her nose. "How's your timetable?"

"Good. No... evil teachers yet."

Dana giggled. "Here," she held her hand out and looked at my bright pink schedule, "Let's see?" I passed it to her and she held it right to her face. "Ah, _so_ close to a perfect semester. You have Coupland for English. Just like Juli." My stomach dropped at the mention of her name. "I told her to get in his good graces and become a favourite as quick as possible. But you know her. She said she wouldn't water herself down for approval. _Such _a Juli thing to say." What else did she say? How was _her_ summer? Did she mention me?

I wanted to ask more about Juli, but it seemed that along with my hairless chin, cowardice had followed me from the eighth grade, too.

Dana folded up the paper and put it back on my side of the bench. Mr. Miller handed out lab rules we had to read and sign, then talked about the dangers of an unattended Bunsen burner for what seemed like half an hour. Soon enough, the bell rang, signalling lunch.

"See ya!" Dana squealed. She collected her things and ran out at the speed of light. Was she going to sit with Juli at lunch? Maybe I should of asked.

I imagined myself smugly walking up to Juli in the cafeteria and handing her the note, and her reading it and calling after me and kissing me. Thankfully, no one was around to see the redness I could feel spreading on my cheeks as I did.

I found Garrett by my locker and let him know Paul would be joining us for lunch. As the three of us sat at the closest table to the cafeteria line, I found myself scouring the crowds, hoping to see Juli.

"Did you see Sherry Stalls? Summer sure did _her _good," Garrett solidified his gaze behind me but I kept my eyes on my tuna salad sandwich.

"Dennis!" Paul waved. A tall guy dressed like he was about to go to his own movie premiere swung around the table and sat beside Paul.

"Hey, fellas!" His eyes were eager and his voice was loud. It was strange to see Paul have a friend so... opposite to him. "This looks good," Dennis mumbled, reaching for a french fry from Paul's cafeteria tray.

"It's not," Paul laughed, then laughed harder when Dennis pulled a face after tasting it. He gulped down the Coke he was holding and burped. "So, cuz," he threw a hand around Paul's shoulders, "Who are your new friends?" Dennis and Paul were family. Finally it made sense.

"Bryce and Garrett," Paul pointed, respectively.

"Well, Bryce and Garrett, there's a freshies party happening next weekend." He was a freshman, too? I guessed he was just the loud, confident type, blending in wherever he was and making friends left and right. A pang of envy hit my chest.

"Parties already?" Garrett scoffed.

"I guess that's highschool," Dennis shrugged, "Anyways, it's at my house on Saturday at ten. Lots of girls have RSVP'd and giggle water's supplied. Parents are gone to a wedding in Des Moines; gotta savour the opportunity, yknow?"

"You got...?" Paul mumbled.

"Yeah!"

"Again? Really?"

"Yup."

"From where?"

"What, you writing a book?" Dennis playfully hit his cousin on the side of the head and Paul laughed. Dennis' gaze went from me to a passing figure behind me and swallowed hard. "Well, I gotta spread the word. Later."

"I hope Sherry's going," Garrett snickered. Not that I cared, but I was pretty sure there was some kind of unspoken rule that friends don't go after friends' ex-girlfriends? But since Sherry was just a ploy that I now felt guilty about, Garrett could chase after her all he wanted.

As Paul talked about Dennis' latest summer party, which I couldn't even picture Paul at, I tore my napkin to pieces, my mind preoccupied. Dad hadn't been home in about three weeks. And Mom had been quiet for days. Lynetta was gone somewhere and Granddad went back to wordlessly staring out the window. I just wanted to get to sixth period and get rid of the letter that was burning a hole in my book-bag and do the first brave thing I've done in a while. I just wanted to see Juli.

••¤( JULIANA )¤••

I just wanted to see Bryce. I thought I'd notice him, maybe in the hallways, maybe in one of my classes. But so far, I was half-way into the day, and he was nowhere to be seen. Maybe he wasn't even here?

No, he had to be. It was the first day! He had to be.

I sat at a cafeteria table with Dana, Jessica, Alison, and Alison's new friend Jane, scoping out the busy arena-like room.

"Girls, I'm gonna be huge by the end of this year, and these cookies are to blame," Jessica groaned, breaking apart the cookie she bought at the counter.

"Don't even worry," Jane mumbled, "At least you can control when you eat them. My grandma basically force-fed me this summer. _Jane, you're too boney. I could snap you in half. Here, eat this entire cake._ The lady has turned me into a planet." They laughed. "I even told her. I was like, I preferred when I looked decent in shorts instead of now. But she's crazy, the lady won't stop!"

"I'm thinking of joining soccer to lose some weight," Alison said.

I wanted to so badly bluster on about how wrong it was to change yourself to fit into somebody else's standards, but I was too lost in thought. I peeled the sticker off my apple and tried to sort through my muddled thoughts.

Dad ran out early that morning because he got a call from Devonhurst. I hoped Uncle Richard was okay. I managed to act alright when I got into Evan's car. As if the only thing that was bothering me was first day nerves. I couldn't help but think about what it'd be like if it was Bryce that I went to school with. I'd easily be able to tell him what had me so worried. But the thought only made me more angry, reminding me that Bryce was quieter than a mouse when something was upsetting him, unwilling to share anything, meanwhile I could tell him everything with ease.

It was interesting seeing Evan in a varsity jacket instead of a Sal's smock, and his hair had more time put into it than usual, the mop it usually was gone and a new slicked back quiff in its place. As he spoke about his car and all the exciting improvements he was going to work on, I watched his profile. Clenched, sharp jaw, protruded Adam's apple, thick, dark lashes. To be honest, I couldn't stop looking at him.

He caught me staring and chuckled in a way that made it clear he was used to girls fawning over him. And even though there were a lot of those girls, _I _was the one in his car, and it made me feel special. He offered to drive me home after school but I declined, figuring I might be signing up for clubs or walking with friends. _And _I didn't want to run the risk of Bryce seeing me get dropped off by an older boy.

Like he cared.

"Juli!" Dana shook me out of my thoughts, "You didn't tell me Bryce got even cuter!" I cocked my mouth open, but no words came out.

"Is that even possible?" Alison laughed, nudging me.

"Who's Bryce?" Jane wondered.

"He's Juli's," Jessica replied, putting the last bit of cookie in her mouth, "Off limits."

"You two are going steady?" Jane asked, wide-eyed, as if she'd never heard about a girl and a guy going together and had to know every single mechanism behind it.

"N-No," I stuttered, "We're just friends. Kind of."

"Kind of?" The confusion was clear in Dana's voice.

"I don't know," I shrugged, "We haven't talked in a while." About three weeks, to be exact. If you could count our peculiar exchange that late summer night as talking.

"Well, anyways. He's my lab partner and I thought I should let you know that you have the same English class. So you can hold hands while Coupland brings down his reign of terror." The four of them mockingly hummed _oooouuuu _as I dug my face in my hands. It wasn't to hide embarrassment, though. It was to hide the smile that grew when I imagined holding Bryce's hand.

I couldn't lie to myself and say that the fact that I had a class with him didn't make me happy. It seemed that no matter how cold Bryce had been acting, the feelings I thought I lost for him came rushing back the moment he planted that tree and opened up to me. And they multiplied.

"Speaking of cute boys, I heard that Paul's cousin is having a party next Saturday," Alison said. Paul and she had had an ongoing almost-relationship since I met her in the sixth grade and her eyes lit up every time she said his name. They both were shy, though, and even after years of "macking on each other", as everyone called it, it seemed either was too afraid to make the first move.

"Dennis Gates?" Jane asked.

"I think that's what he said his name was," Alison played with a long, blond strand of hair.

"Oh yeah, at South Valley, he always threw these massive gatherings," Jane began. She _did _seem like the kind of person who followed parties. "We should all go together!"

"Totally. I'm sure we could hitch a ride from my sister," Jessica said.

"What's South Valley like?" I asked Jane.

"Hated it. Half the classrooms didn't even have windows. It felt like a prison," Jane mumbled, "Glad to be out of there and a highschooler now."

"Hi, girls," an older lady came by our table with a clipboard, "Just letting you know club and team sign-ups are held in the gymnasium after school."

"Thank you," I beamed, and she returned my smile, leaving as quickly as she appeared.

"Oh, I 'd love to join book club," Alison announced.

"How someone can read a book _by choice _is beyond me," Jessica mumbled, and Alison light-heartedly threw a balled up wrapper at her.

"I think cheerleading would be fun," Dana said, "I always dreamed about being a cheerleader."

"Yeah, me too," Jessica answered.

"Me, three," Jane echoed.

"Juli?" Dana said.

"I wonder if they have a science club," I thought out loud.

"Oh, I love you," Alison squeezed my shoulder and I laughed.

After lunch, we all said our good-byes and I went on to History. Afterwards, I had Science, where Mrs. Harmon promoted a great deal of science-related clubs, which made me very pleased. As I got acquainted with my lab partner for the year, a girl named Pearl, I couldn't stop looking at the time and thinking that soon enough the bell would ring and I'd go to English and see Bryce.

Finally, the familiar buzz went off and I gathered my things, finding my way to room B110. I could already imagine sitting with him, complaining about Coopler or whatever his name was, laughing and making after-school plans. I spent the past few weeks upset with Bryce, but the thought of seeing him and knowing he was okay became more important at that moment.

I circled into the corridor and made my way to my last class of the day. B104... B106... B108...

Then I saw Bryce standing there. I felt my feet stop beneath me. He paced towards the room, backpack slung over his shoulder, and glanced down at his timetable then up at the room number then around the hallway then finally at me.

He looked more handsome than I could remember. The spring green plaid on his shirt brought out the dazzling eyes I've spent so many years dreaming over. I watched as the side of his mouth twitched up into a smirk and pressed my lips together, about to smile back, until..

"Freshie!" I looked ahead of me and saw Evan. Out of nowhere, he confidently pulled me into a hug, lifting my feet off the ground. The entire time, my eyes were locked on Bryce's, until he quickly looked away.

"How you holding up?" I looked up at Evan and forced a smile then glanced over at Bryce. Except Bryce was gone.


	4. Chapter 4

••¤( BRYCE )¤••

My heart dropped to my stomach. I walked into English, disoriented, as the bug-eyed teacher instructed me to sit at the desk with my name on it. I stumbled up and down the aisles, staring at the ground as other students grazed past me, then plopped down in the seat adjoining a name-tag that had _Bryce Loski _scribbled across it.

I stared at the writing, my thoughts racing. Who _was _that guy? He was clearly older since he called Juli a "freshie." It was crazy how one second we were smiling at each other, as if whatever happened this summer didn't happen and we were back to when times were good, but then the next, she was hugging some random guy and looking at him like he put the stars in the sky.

I sucked my teeth and rifled through my book-bag, realizing I'd completely forgotten about the letter for the last few minutes. I was so determined to give it to her... but now I wasn't sure what to do with this folded up paper that held had every confession of mine.

Getting out my things, I finally lifted my head to look around the room. I knew about half the people. My breath hitched as I noticed Juli walk across the front of the classroom then settle at the desk directly ahead of the one in front of mine.

I couldn't stop thinking about the way that stranger picked her up and the way she smiled at him. My heart was heavy. Imaging Juli being with someone that wasn't me hurt more than I could describe. I hated that I always took her for granted. What was I expecting? After ignoring Juli for the rest of the summer, I was assuming she'd gladly have any kind of relationship with me, all thanks to a measly letter?

I felt like a fool.

The bell rang and Mr. Coupland immediately cleared his throat, standing in front of the chalkboard with his hands in his pockets. This guy wasn't going to be my favourite teacher, that was for sure.

"My name is Mr. Coupland. You will only address me as Mr. Coupland. Not as Coupland, or Coup, or my first name, which you'll never know." I suppressed an eye roll. "This course requires a lot of books and you are expected to treat them with care. I will see to it that you bring these back at the end of the school year in the condition you received them in. If not, you _will _have to reimburse the school." I already figured out his first name. Insane.

After he handed out the books and we wrote our names on the inside covers, Coupland ordered us to read a short story in one of the textbooks. What sent a pang of worry through me, though, was when he said we'd be answering questions about it in groups.

What if I was put into a group with Juli? Part of me was worried and didn't want it to happen, but the other part was eager, telling me I needed an excuse to talk to her.

After a few minutes spent skimming a story that had something to do with a mountain climber, Coupland told us our groups would be made up of the people in our row. I swallowed hard, then leaned over to look past the guy sitting in front of me and saw Juli's profile as she gazed around the classroom. I liked thinking that she was looking for me.

Desks screeched against the linoleum as everyone in the room shuffled around, until finally, what seemed like the quietest row in the class was facing each other in a circle. Juli sat across from me and I didn't get to see her expression when she realized I was in the group but I wish I did. Her legs were crossed and so were her arms. She pensively looked down at her open book as Coupland blabbered on in the background.

I couldn't take my eyes off of her. She was wearing a sunflower dress that only she could make beautiful, her long hair pulled back. Her green eyes shot up in my direction and I snapped my head towards my new _favourite _teacher. After he handed out sheets and told us each had to have a group representative answer a question in front of the class, which only solidified just how much I knew I'd hate freshman English, I was left staring at a group of five people I didn't know how to talk to.

It was strange that I'd never seen four of them before, yet had an immaculate history with the one directly across from me.

"Alright," Juli took a deep breath, "First question. What's the moral of the story?" The idea of giving her the letter rolled around in my head.

"I think it's about courage," the girl beside her squeaked.

Perfect. Life imitates art.

"So, it's telling us to be brave," Juli pulled out a pencil then looked up at the group, "Everyone okay with me writing that?" She received quiet agreements and a few shrugs, and a smile spread across her face as she stiffly ran the pencil over the page.

"I always forget how to use a pencil after the summer," the guy beside me said. The group shared a chuckle.

Juli shot through the questions, and confidently told us that she'd volunteer to be the speaker. I loved what a natural leader she always was. It was something I admired, and kind of envied. I couldn't believe that I once found this girl unbearable. She was spectacular.

Coupland shushed the class after a few minutes, then pointed to our group.

"Question one?"

"The moral is-"

"Stand up." Juli's eyebrows knotted together and she stood out of her seat, shoulders back.

"The moral is that people need to be brave."

"Okay," Coupland leaned against the chalkboard, looking unsatisfied.

"A-And that in the face of danger, you have to remember what's important."

"Go on."

"Well, Walt has a bad relationship with his daughter, but when he's put in this life-or-death situation, he realizes that their- their problems aren't that serious."

"Isn't that more about the importance of refusing to suppress?"

"Yeah, it's both, I guess," Juli seemed to get smaller. "It takes bravery not to suppress something."

"Okay, but I disagree that the moral concerns bravery," Coupland cockily proclaimed. The urge to hit this guy over the head with my binder was hard to keep controlled.

"But-"

"It's about suppression and instinct."

"But doesn't courage have to do with-"

Coupland frustratingly put his palms up. It was clear he wasn't used to getting argued with. "Perhaps it's something a young lady wouldn't understand."

"Pardon _me_?" Juli half-shouted. The room got eerily quiet.

"What's your name, dear?" he condescended.

She opened her mouth as if she was about to scream, but quickly swallowed the words. "Juli," she stuttered.

"Juli, I don't appreciate being yelled at in my own classroom. Now sit down."

"I didn't yell, I don't understand how-"

"Sit. Down."

"You can't treat her like that." Heat prickled on the back of my neck and I felt everyone's eyes on me. Did that voice come from me?

"Just- just because you're a teacher..."

Oh my God, that voice was_ mine._

"...It- it doesn't mean you can..."

_Bryce, what are you doing?_

"D-disrespect people."

"Can _you _give me the right answer?" Coupland raised an eyebrow. It was clear that he wasn't sending me out or scolding me the way he did Juli just because the one thing I had in common with him was my gender. It infuriated me. I tightened my lips, not knowing what to say next.

Coupland moved onto the next group, acting as if what just happened didn't happen. I sat there, fuming because he was such a jerk and confused because I did something that was so not... me. As he spoke to group two's representative in his self-assuring way, I looked over at Juli to see she was already looking at me. She widened her eyes and cocked her head to the direction of the teacher, then gave a disapproving shake. I crinkled my forehead and nodded.

It was the first normal exchange we had in months. I looked down at my books, sinking into the warm, unfamiliar feeling of being proud of myself. Although the teacher wasn't exactly a joy, I had a feeling I'd find myself looking forward to this class each day.

Eventually, the grueling exercise was over and everyone was back in rows. Once the bell rang, I quickly gathered my books and pulled up my book-bag and the crinkled epistle in the side-pocket patronized me as if it was asking, _well?_

"Bryce?" A familiar voice shot me out of my stupor. I looked up to see Juli standing by my desk. "Thank you," she proclaimed.

••¤( JULIANA )¤••

"Thank you," I mumbled. Bryce ran a hand through his blond locks and gave me a tight smile. I couldn't believe he spoke out. To a teacher. An intimidating one. On the first day of school. All because of me.

"He's- he's a numb nuts," Bryce stammered, and I laughed. He looked down, shoving the rest of his books into his bag, the dimples caving into his cheeks as he chuckled with me.

I could see it in his eyes. No matter how many times he tried to mask them, something was wrong.

"I really don't get what the deal is with people who clearly hate kids becoming teachers," I sighed. He stood out of his desk, looming over me. Dana was right- this boy had a growth spurt. We walked out of the stuffy room side-by-side.

"Where's your locker?" Bryce scratched the back of his head.

"By the gym," I scowled, "It's toxic down there." We shared a laugh. I felt an arm hook around my elbow and snapped my head over to see Dana standing there with a mischievous grin.

"Hi, Bryce! Bye, Bryce!" She whirled me around and scurried down the hallway, pinned to my arm. "Get married already," Dana whispered.

"I can't do that if keep kidnapping me like this!"

"So you _admit _you'd like to become Mrs. Bryce Loski! Interesting," she chortled. I _was _a bit bothered that she took me away from my conversation with Bryce, but at least I got to speak with him, even for a little bit. I was determined to find out what had been troubling him.

We met up with Alison, Jessica, and Jane, and the five of us made our way down to the gymnasium for club sign-up.

"Everyone managed to get through the day without sluffing?" Jessica hollered.

"I know for sure that Juli would _never _miss a class," Dana pulled a strand of my hair and I slapped her away.

"Well, I thought I'd be falling asleep in Careers, but I have a pretty good-looking distraction to stare at," Jane snickered.

"Isn't highschool great?" Jessica linked in with Jane, as if officially accepting her into our group, "So many good-looking distractions."

"What's this distraction's name?" Dana asked.

"I never got it," Jane replied.

"One step at a time, Dana!" Jessica teased.

We laced through the crowds and each wandered off towards our points of interest. I made a beeline for the Science Club and wrote my name on the first line. I was happy to find they had a book club, which I signed up for, seeing Alison's name already there. I also wrote my name under auditions for Junior Girls' Soccer.

Eventually, I found Dana, and the two of us set off to find the rest of the group. My breath hitched once I saw Bryce, hands in his pockets, standing next to Garrett. _Ugh. _What was he doing with Garrett?

"Juli..." Dana had her signature undertone of willfulness weaved into her words, "What _is _going on with you and Bryce? You two have such a long, complicated history."

"Tell me about it," I mumbled. I continued to look at him as we walked back, admiring the broadness in his shoulders.

Dana frustratingly shook me, "No, _you _tell me about it!" I let out a breathy chuckle.

"We just stopped talking over the summer." I swallowed my pride. "He... started ignoring me."

"He's so immature," Dana adjusted the brown headband in her hair, "Boys! They get scared you won't like them back so they chicken out. The male species is seriously deranged."

"I don't know if it was because he was scared I didn't like him ba-"

"Juli Baker." Dana stopped in her tracks and I mirrored her. She bore her brown eyes in to mine. "Any fool can tell that Bryce is head over heels for you." My heart fluttered.

"Well," I shook it off, "I don't-"

"How was English?" I could practically see the hearts in my own eyes and Dana seemed to pick up on them quite quickly, too. "Good, I'm guessing?"

"You won't believe what happened," I slowly replied, letting the drone of the crowds' chatter buzz in my ears. "Mr. Coupland was being a total jerk to me, making some comment about how I won't understand something since I'm a girl-"

"What!" Dana growled. "Sorry, continue."

"Right? Anyways, out of nowhere, Bryce speaks up and tells him he can't be disrespectful."

"Bryce told _Coupland _that?" Dana comically brought her hands up to her cheeks. "What did he do?"

"He kind of acted like it didn't even happen. Luckily."

"So he spends a whole summer ignoring you, then stands up for you to the scariest teacher ever? See, Juli? I told you. Deranged species."

"There you are!" Alison appeared between us.

We all reunited, talking about the teams and clubs we'd signed up for. The four of them decided to take the bus back home but I knew I needed a walk to clear my mind.

As I made my way off the campus of my new school, I couldn't stop thinking about the way Bryce defended me, in his matured, yet still kind of craven voice. He really had grown since the last time I saw him... more into a man. I bit my lip and looked down, brown crunchy leaves tumbling across my path.

I missed him. A lot. And I was hoping that today was an indication that he was done hiding.

I'd never been one to easily forgive and forget. But the way his eyes looked just told me that he had a good reason for acting how he did, and it only made me eager to fix it for him.

I made it home and looked over at Bryce's house, then at the sycamore, then finally at our front door. It reminded me of how Evan picked me up that morning, which only sent another wave of uninvited feelings to my stomach.

I skipped to the kitchen to grab a snack and saw dad sitting at the counter, head resting in his hands. He always got home from work in the evening... What was he doing here?

"Hi," I chirped, clueless yet pleasant.

"Juliana," his voice was low, "I have some bad news."


	5. Chapter 5

_Greatly appreciate the reviews! Thanks for keeping the story going._

••¤( BRYCE )¤••

I was hoping to see Juli on the bus, figuring that my newfound bravery would allow me to sit beside her and maybe even have a proper conversation with her. Instead, I sat beside Paul, eyeing up and down the rows. I saw Dana, but not Juli.

I kept replaying how I spoke up to Coupland today and every time I did, a rush went through my body. Defending Juli was like a knee-jerk response. I wanted to believe that if it was someone else, or even myself that Coupland talked that way to, I would put him in his place just the same. But something told me I wouldn't. Something told me that Juli brought out something in me no one else could.

Watching the blur of foliage outside the window, I wondered what it'd be like to be in the football team. Pfft. As if a noodle like me make it past first try-outs.

But it was nice to slip into daydreams. Nailing the game-winning score. Mom and Dad and Lynetta cheering in the stands. Juli running on the field and feeling small in my arms as she looks up at me like I'm the only guy in the world for her.

"Highschool's not that bad, huh?" Paul grumbled beside me.

"I could get used to it," I replied, fading out of my haze.

"My brother said before you know it, you're a senior and supposed to know what you want to do with your life."

"I barely know what the hell pi is," I nudged him and we laughed.

The bus reached my stop and I waved bye to the guys I was sitting with then left.

I wasn't happy walking back home with the letter still in my bag.

Why was I so scared?

I arrived home to find Granddad reading by the window. It reminded me of when he told me to read that article about Juli in the paper. If I could go back now and tell that Bryce all that would happen later on, he wouldn't come close to believing me.

"How was the first day?" He had a small smile on his face and I mirrored it.

"Not bad," I replied, dropping my heavy bad and settling on the couch. "I signed up for football."

"Ah, carrying on the legacy... your uncle Denny was a quarterback. Before him so was I." It felt strange to not know that about my family.

"Yikes," I mumbled, "Got big shoes to fill." We shared the first laugh the house had gotten in months.

"As long as you're doing what you want to do, son," Granddad said. I marveled at his words. This man was amazing and it upset me that I didn't realize it sooner.

Was I always so ungrateful? I had to lose Juli to recognize her? Dad had to leave for me to appreciate Granddad?

The memory of that morning sent a pinch of pain to my temples. As Granddad looked out the window, I couldn't stop thinking about it. About Dad's early morning disappearing act. About how I watched Dad from my window a week ago, tossing suitcases in the car as if they were the cause of this broken home. About how the next day when I asked Mom if he was coming back, she shrugged and tears filled her eyes and she walked out of the room.

I didn't understand how a person could've done that... could've left his kids and wife and father-in-law high and dry.

I should've stopped it.

Granddad's thick eyebrows met as he scrunched his forehead, squinting at the window.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I just realized... Richard's car is parked. He doesn't ever come home until dinner-time. Odd."

The fact that my grandfather had stared out that window so much that he memorized other people's routines saddened me.

"Where's Mom?" I mumbled.

"Went to pick up groceries."

"Granddad?" I spoke, "Is he going to come back?"

The room went quiet as soon as Dad was mentioned. Aged, blue eyes quickly met mine.

"Bryce," he began. Letting out a sharp exhale, he turned in his chair. I felt tears burn in my throat.

"Did he say anything to you?"

Granddad swallowed. "No."

"But he didn't leave a note. Didn't call. It's been eight days."

"I'm not sure what's going through that man's head. To just up and leave, to abandon his own-" He massaged his head with a shaky hand.

"Did he even tell Mom?"

"I don't... I don't know. I don't think so," he sighed.

"Have you heard from Lynetta?" I asked.

"She called the house, saying she was staying with so-and-so."

The room went quiet again.

"Is she okay, though?"

"I hope so. No one really says if they are or if they aren't in this family." I raked my fingers through my hair and thought of his words. It seemed like a curse, this inability to express myself.

I had never felt so helpless.

"I knew he was rotten the day he married your mother," Granddad grumbled more to himself than to me, "I could see it in his eyes."

A wobbly breath filled my lungs. I looked at the frail man staring out the window and an intense feeling of gloom came over me. My family was falling apart in front of me and I couldn't even do anything about it.

"I'm- I'm going to get something to eat," I stammered, "Need anything?" Granddad silently shook his head.

As I distractedly ate soda crackers at the desk in my room, I reflected over what a blur the day had been. I'd felt so lost. It seemed the only place I had to feel okay was the place I was in during my late night walks.

I couldn't stop thinking about the letter. How a guy could defend someone from the most intimidating teacher at a new school yet be too scared to give them a measly scramble of words baffled me.

But as I reminded myself that that someone was Juli, my stomach tied into a knot. Imagining her reading what I wrote and knowing absolutely everything made me feel uneasy and relieved at the same time.

My mind granted me the _oh-so _kind reminder of the stranger who hugged Juli. Replaying the incident made me feel fiercely protective over her. Who was he?

I leaned over to look out the window and, as coincidence had it, saw Juli walking out of her house. As she plopped down on her porch swing, she played with the ends of her hair and kept her gaze low. I glanced over at the sycamore, wishing it could tell me all what was going on with her.

_If you want to know so bad, just go over and ask her, you wuss. _The thought was shaken away as soon as I noticed a black Chevrolet abruptly swing into our driveway with a screech.

••¤( JULIANA )¤••

A screech startled me and I looked up to see a car in Bryce's driveway. I watched as a blonde stumbled out from the passenger's side and stalked towards the front door. As my vision adjusted, I could see it was Lynetta.

She pulled at the handle but once it wouldn't open, she banged at the wood veneer without missing a beat. I saw Bryce open the door, and wished I was close enough to see his facial expression... but something told me it wasn't a positive one. Lynetta pushed her way into the house, her bubblegum pleated skirt swishing past her little brother.

As Bryce turned his back to the street, door still wide open, I could hear shouting between them. Smoke continued to spill out of the unknown car's exhaust and I wanted so badly to know who was in the car and what they were shouting about and why Bryce's dad's station wagon had been gone for so many days. But I didn't want to know out of mere curiosity. I wanted to know because no matter how much I tried to stifle it, I cared deeply for Bryce.

As if it was staged, Patsy appeared, her car slowing once she approached her house. She parked, her head snapping to the direction of the shouting as soon as she got out of the car.

"Hey," I heard a voice, "You okay, Jujube?" I looked up to see Mark with one foot out the front door. I opened my mouth but no sound came out.

A shriek echoed through the neighbourhood, "That's just_ great!" _I looked back over to Bryce's house to see Lynetta holding a ball of clothing and storming towards the black car. Bryce followed and Patsy slowly paced forward. Based on the resolute way Lynetta was walking, I could tell the shriek came from her.

It felt wrong watching such a private moment between the family but I couldn't take my eyes off of them.

Lynetta seemed to freeze once she noticed her mother. They exchanged a few quiet words as Bryce watched, then Lynetta turned around and went back into the car with less urgency then she came with. In a flash, the driver of the car reversed the Chevy and sped down the street and out of sight.

I watched as Patsy comforted Bryce with a quick pat to his shoulder. I heard the door beside me close then sensed Mark sit beside me on the swing. He and I silently watched as Bryce and his mother unloaded the groceries then disappeared into the house, returning the silence to the neighbourhood.

"Who was that in the jacked up?" he asked, concern clear in his voice. I knew both Matt and Mark lost touch with Lynetta quite quickly over the summer. One day, she just didn't come to watch them play, and that was that.

"I didn't see," I answered. I could tell both of us wanted to make a comment, but I sensed that it felt intrusive to talk about the Loskis' business.

Mark squeezed my shoulder. "Uncle Daniel's going to be okay. You know that, right?"

My mind quickly dropped the subject of what was going on with the family across the street then raced as it replayed the conversation I had just had with Dad.

_They say this may be nothing. He may have just collapsed out of dehydration._

Beads of sweat on Dad's forehead.

_But we should be prepared just in case._

The ratty collar of his work shirt.

_I'm visiting again in a couple of days to hear the test results. It's up to you if you want to come._

Shakiness in his voice.

I shrugged and Mark pulled me close. "He might not be okay, though," I answered, matter-of-factly. My big brother sighed.

"But he probably is," he retorted.

I imagined the possibilities. The good: Daniel being perfectly healthy and Dad being happy again, visiting his brother often, taking me with him sometimes. The bad crept in: funeral arrangements.

"Are you okay?" Mark mumbled. I looked at his blue-green eyes, just like Dad's but younger.

"I just don't like expecting the worst, I guess." My lips formed into a tight smile, forcing back tears.

Mark sat back, his long legs rocking the swing back and forth. A few moments passed and he spoke again.

"How was your first day of highschool?" I really wasn't in the mood to talk but Mark was making an effort so I gave him the benefit of the doubt.

"Not bad. You know who Mr. Coupland is?"

Mark made a gagging sound, "I wish I didn't! Don't tell me you have him."

"Okay. I don't have him," I replied.

"You do, don't you?"

"Yes."

"He's _such _a fream! You let me know if he bothers you. He can't put me in detentions anymore."

"Anymore?" I raised my eyebrows and Mark looked away glibly. "Well, he _can _put you in jail, so I'll pass on the offer." He let out a chuckle and nibbled at his thumbnail.

As we sat there in silence, I stared at Bryce's house and thought of how he stood up for me. About how much taller he'd gotten and how his voice had dropped what seemed like ten octaves and about how his eyes looked so dark and sad. The display I had just unintentionally witnessed in his driveway had something, if not, everything to do with it. His father was as good as gone and he had nothing but a, by now, vanished wasp sting to remind him of the last summer his family was together.

My heart flickered as I thought about how Dana said that _any fool could tell that Bryce was head over heels for me._

I guess I was a fool because I couldn't see it at all. He was just a befuddled teenage boy who wanted to get his first kiss over with and couldn't go through with it, _twice,_ and along the way, planted a tree out of guilt.

The next morning, as I sat at the breakfast table gulping down my orange juice, I watched as the hood of a car pulled up to the street. It was... Evan's car. I heard a chirpy honk go off twice.

"This boy making a habit out of this, Juli?" Mom announced, stepping towards me and gathering a strand of my hair, brushing through it with her fingers.

I pulled away and scurried to the window, looking through the blinds to make sure it was Evan.

"I wasn't expecting him," I explained. I continued to watch from the window.

"Well?" Mom teasingly scoffed. I collected my lunch money off the table and gave her a quick hug.

Evan gave me a goofy grin as I slid into the passenger seat.

"Hey, you," he drawled. I held my bag on my lap and stared ahead as Paul Anka hummed from the radio. "You blanking me?"

I looked over at Evan and chuckled, "No, sorry. Just a... scattered morning." _Thanks to you. Is this carpooling thing going to continue?_

"Understood," he answered, jaw clenched. "Day two, huh?"

As I glanced over at Evan, I realized that I had completely forgotten about his public display of affection in front of Bryce yesterday, and wondered if Bryce had even given it a second thought. I hated to admit that the prospect of him being jealous was a bit exciting, but it quickly wore off once I remembered that he was already going through enough.

"Day two," I answered.

"What I wouldn't give to be a freshman again," Evan tapped his steering wheel to the slow beat.

"It was _so _long ago, wasn't it?" He laughed with me and I looked over at him again. His blue eyes bore into mine as he smirked.

We reached the school parking lot and got out of his car in unison. I heard someone call his name and turned to see a group of other students calling him over by another car.

"Thanks for the ride," I said softly.

"You want one after school, too?" Evan played with his keys as he paced backwards.

If he didn't ask, I would have forgotten. "Oh, I have try-outs. For soccer."

"Okay, cool," he confidentially smiled at me and turned to join his friends. I couldn't lie to myself and say I didn't dig him at least a little bit. But there was no point in thinking about these feelings.

After my long morning classes, I was sitting at the same cafeteria table as yesterday with the same people as yesterday. It seemed a routine was in the making.

Allison tapped the middle of the table to catch everyone's attention while half of us were talking about the television shows that were on last night and the other half were fixated on their lunches, "Wait, who else signed up for soccer again?"

"Oh, I did," I replied.

"I wanted to," Jessica began, "But then I realized that I'd be losing free time just to run up and down a field."

We laughed. "Guess it's just you and me," Allison chirped. I gave her a smile.

"Oh my God, Juli!" Dana shrieked, startling us, "I almost forgot! Who was that _guy _you showed up with this morning?"

"Guy?" Jane leaned closer.

"Oh, he's just..." I could feel my cheeks heating up, "A friend."

"So you have two guys running after you and all I have is the guy I silently stare at in my Careers class. Life is unfair," Jane whined.

"You're so _mysterious_, Baker," Jessica mocked.

"It means she's trustworthy," Allison announced, "Does anyone want my apple?"

As my friends had their own conversations, I felt outside of everything... even myself. I couldn't get my mind off my uncle. I imagined him lying in a hospital bed, frantically pulling at all the tubes attached to him, calling for his brother to stop the heart monitor's annoying beeping sound.

Eventually, the bell rang and the five of us parted ways.

My next few classes went quicker than expected and as I walked through the crowded, humid halls to English, fervent to see Bryce, I pondered about what exactly I wanted with him. All my life, I guess all I wanted was to call him my guy. Then the eggs happened and Basket Boys lunch happened and the sycamore happened. Then the almost kiss, the not talking to each other for weeks, the night on the street, the Coupland incident... It felt like our story was chaptered off and I just wanted to know what the next ones would bring.

If we even had any.

Deep down, I knew that I wanted to be with him. I felt like I always would.

I settled in my seat, noticing Bryce wasn't there. Then he walked in and I felt my skin get hot under the surface. I felt so magnetized to him, like I had to be with him all the time.

He kept his deep-set eyes down on the ground, then did his signature squint as he looked ahead, forehead crinkled, head still slightly dipped. It was such a simple habit, but it made my knees wobble. The white cotton of his raglan shirt hugged his willowy figure as he walked past me, eyes back on the ground.

I didn't see Bryce for the rest of the class as Mr. Coupland lectured for most of it, pointing his finger at us every so often, as if to remind us we were "inferior." He told us we'd have a quiz at the end of the week, to which a few students quietly groaned, then assigned textbook reading until the end of the period.

Once the bell rang, I rushed to meet Allison by the gymnasium for soccer try-outs. I was as spaced out on the field as I was in my classes, repeatedly misunderstanding Mrs. Brooke's instructions. I definitely didn't give it my 100% because I couldn't get my mind off Uncle Daniel. I just wanted him to be okay.

As I ran with the other girls who were actually trying to make the team, I asked myself why I even bothered to come out when I couldn't focus on anything. Finally, Mrs. Brooke called us back after an hour on the field and told us that the list of everyone who made the cut would be up... somewhere the next morning, then dismissed us.

Thankfully, I was able to act normal around Allison and joked with her as we made our way to the locker room. I went to the washroom and looked at my reflection, hair falling out and face red. I was ready for this day to end.

We eventually said our goodbyes and Allison went off her direction while I went off on mine. I made my way across the vast field behind the school and watched as a familiar figure came out of the rusted gymnasium door diagonal from me. He noticed me and butterflies flurried in my stomach.

"Hi, Bryce," I could hear myself being smitten. "You heading home?"

"Yeah," he stopped in his tracks, his hair darkened and sticking to his forehead, "You?"

"Yeah."

Bryce glanced up at me through thick lashes. "Let's go, then."


	6. Chapter 6

_I haven't posted in a really long time, but I'm still into this story and I'm going to try really hard to post regularly. For those who waited, thank you so much._

••¤( BRYCE )¤••

My sneakers sank into the mud with every step. I looked over at Juli, her arms crossed as she silently trudged beside me. After her bold reaction to seeing me, I was waiting for her to speak, but it didn't seem like it was going to happen.

I swallowed hard.

"Where-"

"So, do-"

We shared an awkward chuckle.

"Go ahead," Juli announced.

"Oh, I was just..." My voice was quieter than I was expecting it to be. "I was just asking where you were."

"Try-outs," she nodded. She looked over and the split second of eye contact made my heart stagger. "For soccer."

"Neat," I bit my lip, "H-how'd it go?"

"Eh." It wasn't a very Juli way to react. "What about you? Where are you coming from?" she asked.

"The same. Kind of. Well, yeah, try-outs. For football, though." I cringed at my stumbling words.

A hint of a smile washed across her face. She looked... impressed.

"How was it?"

"Good, actually," I looked down at the browning grass in front of us, remembering the coach's assuring nod to me after I scored against the guy who kept talking about how great of a linebacker he was in middle school. I wasn't sure how I found the bravery to actually give the try-outs a shot, but I was glad I did. I had to learn to do that more often.

"That's good," Juli replied. I watched as she frustratingly tossed her hair back out of her face. Man, was she beautiful.

I cleared my throat. "So, you ready for the quiz?"

"I have a feeling no one could be ready for one of _his _quizzes," Juli replied. I laughed and she smirked.

"But you've always been good at English," I let out. My cheeks filled with warmth. Maybe this prospective bravery habit _wasn't _so great. I looked down at Juli and found that the memory of when we almost kissed on the bridge was rushing back to me. The hot sun, her green eyes, that life-ruining bee...

"Mark told me he had problems with that teacher," Juli said. Another memory entered my mind- this one more unwelcome. Lynetta.

"I'm n-not surprised," I half-chuckled. Juli looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "No, no, not because he's your brother- because of Mr. Coupland."

She shook her head with a snicker, "Speaking of. Mark showed me a short-cut home. It shaves off a good ten minutes."

I followed her, trying to mentally recuperate from all the blabbering I'd been doing. We approached a tear in the chain link fence that made up the perimeter of the school yard. Juli stalked towards the haphazard short-cut, tossing her backpack through the opening onto the pavement, then crouched her way through it. She swung her bag on her shoulder and faced me from the other side of the exit.

"Come on," she encouraged. I surveyed the lowness and the jagged frame of the opening. "It's not as scary as it looks," she mocked. I playfully scoffed at her and she laughed as I awkwardly stooped my way through the fence's open wound, my clothes getting snagged by the sharp metal edges.

I made my way out, but it turned out that only thought I did. I stepped forward but was pulled back as the fence's pricks held me captive, sending the wall rattling. Juli stepped towards me, laughing the hardest I'd ever seen her laugh, her cheeks swelling. Embarrassed, I looked at the sidewalk as she disappeared behind me and detached my backpack from the fence's grizzly hooks.

"There you go," Juli chirped. I stepped out, adjusting my backpack straps. "That was graceful."

I kept my gaze on my muddy shoes and couldn't stop smiling.

"You made it look so easy," I mumbled, to which she laughed some more.

"We didn't calculate your height into the equation," she answered.

We made our way down the quiet suburban street. I cleared my throat. "Where to now?"

"We just turn left up ahead," Juli glanced up at me. Her freckles looked darker, bringing out the rich green colour of her eyes. "It, uh..." she looked ahead, "It just goes out to Elmwood. By the creek."

It took me a little time to stop staring at her and finally speak. "O-oh. Okay. I know where that is." _Smooth._ Ask something. Anything.

"What do you think of highschool?" I blurted out. Cool. Real cool.

"Um," Juli let out a small giggle, "The freedom's nice. But, ugh, my _locker _is really-"

"Yours smells weird, too?" She quickly covered her face with her hands and laughed. "I'm not alone!"

"It's awful."

"Something definitely died in mine."

"Oh, I hope..." Juli's eyebrows rose.

"What?"

She pressed her lips together as the sides of her mouth began to tremble into a smile. "I hope you didn't get Matt's old locker."

I gasped, "What!? Something _died _in his old-"

"No, no, no!" Juli laughed and I felt her hand on my arm. "He just left a lot of food in there. It was toxic! The school actually had to send home a notice after they already asked him to clean it a million times." She adorably shook her head and laughed, her dark dresses falling back onto her face.

I was chuckling and I couldn't stop smiling as I watched her.

"Oh, wow," I gaped.

"I feel like there's a Bakers' legacy I have to uphold." The wind blew her hair back and she satisfyingly brushed away the stray hairs still on her face. "Oh, we cross here." Juli stood in front of me and looked both ways on the street, then signaled to me to follow her as she jogged across the narrow street. She was nothing if not a leader.

"You will," I mumbled.

"Will what?"

"Uphold the legacy. But not with stinky lockers... as classic as that is." She gave me a look that told me _only I can poke fun at my family. _I smirked.

"Hmm," she crossed her arms, "I hope I'm the one that gets Coupland to retire." I laughed with her.

"He seems like the type that would want to carry out the reign of terror as long as he can," I said, "Some people just never want to retire, like Granddad." I could practically smell the can of worms I'd just opened.

A few seconds passed.

"How is he?" Juli asked uneasily.

"Oh, he..." I squeezed the strap of my backpack, "Same ol', same ol'."

"Yeah?" The look in her eyes sent a mix of sadness, nostalgia, and just plain confusion into my chest.

"As far as I know." I shrugged. I didn't want to say anymore about it.

"Well... talk to him. It's always good to have somewhere to let those things out, don't you think?" She was a devious one. As straightforward as Juli Baker was, she had a raw talent for sugar-coating things when she had to. It was her little way of telling me to talk about all that had happened. She knew I needed to let some things out, and she wanted to be the outlet for them.

"I guess." I swallowed hard.

She gave me a smile. It was small, but it said a lot. It said _I understand. _

We kept walking, the wind picking up. After everything last year, I wanted so badly to start off fresh with Juli. To make her realize I wasn't the guy she thought I was. I finally felt like I was getting that chance. Things with us were easy again... just like they were at the beginning of the summer. I chewed on my thumbnail and thought about what to say next.

"That's a bad habit, Bryce." Juli gave me a perceptive gaze. I only stopped because the way she said my name was so sweet.

"Sorry."

Once we turned onto our street, I tried to figure out what to say. That I missed her? That I wanted to start spending time together again? That so much had happened in the past summer, it made me completely forget how to function as a person?

_The letter. Give her the letter. It has everything._

As I nervously considered it, I looked down the quiet stretch of pavement. My feet suddenly stopped beneath me. I felt Juli's eyes on me as I stared at Dad's car, parked right in front of our house.

••¤( JULIANA )¤••

Bryce got really silent all of a sudden and the dimples in his cheeks completely flattened, as if they would never appear again. He kept looking at the minivan in front of his house.

Oh, wow. It belonged to his father.

"Uh, I'll- I'll see you later," I spoke so he wouldn't have to. He absentmindedly nodded, his pink lips parting. His forehead crinkled like it always did and I wanted to talk to him but I figured that too much was happening in his mind.

He began to pace forward, his face looking incredibly puzzled. "I'll see you," I mumbled.

"Yeah," Bryce replied. We slowly parted as I headed home. I watched from under the sycamore as he walked towards the house across the street, opened the door, and disappeared.

I walked into my empty house and stared out the front room window. I couldn't help but feel some anxiety for Bryce.

Finally, I grabbed a snack and went upstairs to do some reading to unwind, but every so often, I'd find myself looking out the window to see if anything had changed.

Later that evening after everyone came home, I was doing my homework when I heard my name being called.

"Phone for you!" Mom hollered.

I jogged downstairs and into the kitchen, talking the heavy phone out of Mom's hands.

"Hello?"

"Hi,_ Juuuuli_," a chorus of voices sang.

"H-hey," I replied.

"How are you?" I could tell that was Alison's voice.

I sighed, "Tired from try-outs."

"Oh yeah! How'd those go?" Dana enthusiastically asked.

"Bad," Alison and I both said in unison. The bunch of us laughed.

"You don't think you made it?" It was Jessica this time.

"We'll see," Alison whined.

"In all kindness, I hope you don't make it just because it means less time to spend time with us," Jessica retorted. We all snickered.

"This is pretty neat, I didn't know you could have a... connected call like this," I spoke.

"Yeah! It's four-way calling," Dana answered.

"Would be five-way but Jane had some Careers project she thought was more important than her own friends," Jessica sarcastically complained.

"Who cares about school, right?" Dana laughed.

"I swear, she'd be done it by now if she wasn't always thinking about that guy in her class!" Jessica replied, then cleared her throat. "I know, I know. Pot calling the kettle black."

We got lost in conversation, each of us talking about what had happened since the last time we saw each other. I knew my after-school story would intrigue them, but I rehearsed it in my head, making sure I wouldn't say too much.

I wanted to say _all _that had happened, just to hear it out loud and try to make sense of it all and find a solution, but I couldn't. It would feel wrong talking about Bryce's business like that.

"So, Juli?" Alison asked.

"Oh, I... I walked home with Bryce."

"_What!_" Dana squealed.

"We ran into each other and... just walked home, no big whoop," I said.

"No big whoop!" Jessica mocked. The four of us chuckled in unison.

"It really wasn't. We just talked about... lockers." I knew that Dana had that _oh really _look on her face, and I was glad I didn't have to be scrutinized in person. I changed the subject. "Jess, are you even considering any clubs or teams?"

We were talking about our sleeping patterns when Dana said her mother was calling her for dinner then all decided it was time to start being productive. We said our goodbyes and I trudged up to my room, my mind racing.

I plopped down stomach first on my mattress and reached under my bed. I opened a fresh notebook I got from Mom a long time ago and decided it'd be a private place for my thoughts. My diary. I was always too impatient to write everything down, since my thoughts tended to run faster than my pencil, but I needed a place to lay everything out.

_September 25, 1959_

_Dear Diary,_

_This is probably going to be the only time I write in you. Sorry in advance._

_ - I'm still worried about Uncle Daniel  
- I'm still worried about Bryce and I feel like he's going through a lot but he won't talk about it for some reason and I want him to know I can help and I'm here but all he does is simmer in silence as if that's going to fix anything  
- I'm still worried about getting used to highschool  
- I'm still worried about Evan and what he expects from me  
- I'm still worri_

"Juliana!" Dad called, "Dinner time!" I closed the book and slid it into my nightstand drawer.

"Coming!" I shouted back.

My knife screeched against the ceramic plate as I eagerly cut into my steak.

"...And in my history class, they were talking about those Salem witch trials, that stuff is insane! The things they would do- man! Did you know-"

"Matthew," Mom half-chuckled, "Not at the dinner table, please."

"Sorry," Matt laughed.

"How is the music coming along?" Dad asked. It was the first time he ever changed the subject from school to music, and not vice-versa.

"Boss! I just wrote a new song, we're so cranked to practice it," Mark boasted.

"Lovely," Mom nodded, pretending like she understood, "And Juli. How was your day?"

"Hmm?" I looked up, my mouth full of potatoes. "Oh, good. I had soccer."

"The food won't run away, pipsqueak," Mark lightly pinched my arm. I let out muffled laughter.

"Hey," I swallowed, "I had try-outs today, alright? I'm hungry."

"Oh, for soccer, right?" Mom asked.

I nodded, "But I didn't do so great. I wasn't really into it."

"That's okay," Mom answered, her smile big, "Everyone has something they're good at. If soccer isn't your thing, something else is!" My heart warmed at her positivity.

After dinner, I finished up homework and was too tired to write any more in my diary. I chuckled over the fact that I couldn't even finish an entry.

I lay in bed and listened to the house settling down. Doors closed and lights were turned off and the wood surrounding me seemed to sigh as it was filled with darkness. My eyes got heavier and heavier as I lay curled up under the thin blanket.

My heart jolted as I heard some low, spaced-out rattles, forcing me back into consciousness. I lay there frightened, waiting for the next clatter, hoping it would be clear enough to show me where it was coming from.

_Plink!_

My window. I threw off my comforter and slowly inched towards the glass. I glanced out to look at the front yard, when I saw a figure, standing right by the sycamore. My eyes adjusted.

I quickly slid the pane up, the cool early autumn air pressing against my face.

"Juli?" he whispered.

"Bryce?"

Small stones fell out of his hands as he surveyed me.

"Could I... could I please stay over?" His voice was hushed, "I can sleep on your floor? I'll just- I'm so tired, I'm sorry, it's-"

I leaned out of my window a little further, "Wait at the front door."


End file.
